Huff confident of WTCC title tilt with Honda

Rob Huff feels he is better placed with Honda to challenge for a second career World Touring Car Championship title.

Rob Huff says he is setting himself the target of a second World Touring Car Championship title after switching to the Castrol Honda team from LADA.

A title winner in 2011, Huff forms part of an expanded three-driver line-up for the Honda team, with himself and Norbert Michelisz joining former F1 driver Tiago Monteiro in attempting to take the fight to 2014 and 2015 champions Citroen.

Huff comes to Honda after two years at LADA, with whom he won the Russian manufacturer's first races in 2014 driving the Granta TC1 before scoring podiums with the new Vesta TC1 in 2015.

However, Huff - a 27-time race winner in the WTCC - feels his best chance to return to title-winning glory is with the factory-backed JAS Motorsport Honda team, spurring his decision to move.

"Over the past couple of seasons, I've become very used to seeing the Civic WTCCs in front of me, so it's terrific to have the chance to race one this year," he said.

"I won't be happy to finish my career as only a one-time World Champion, and there's a tremendous opportunity with Honda and JAS to correct that statistic. I raced a JAS-built Civic TCR at Macau last year and it was a very well-built and fast machine, so that gives me plenty of confidence that we'll have a strong season. I can't wait to start testing."

With Huff joining Honda, LADA is rumoured to be seeking his predecessor Gabriele Tarquini to replace him, while Hugo Valente has also been tipped to join alongside the already-confirmed Nicky Catsburg. Main rivals Citroen, meanwhile, will seek a third consecutive title with an trimmed two driver line-up of Jose Maria Lopez and Yvan Muller.